Ceylon and South-east Asia : political religious and cultural relations from A.D. c. 1000 to c. 1500.

Relations between Ceylon and the countries of South-east Asia go far back in history. Centrally situated in the Indian Ocean, Ceylon commands the entrance to the Bay of Bengal, and due to the extensive sea-borne trade between the east and the west became an important entrepot between the two. Ceylon first came into contact with South-east Asia as a result of the maritime trade involving South-east Asian countries on the sea route between China and the west. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries A.D. commercial activities paved the way for political contacts between Ceylon and South-east Asia. The relations of Vijayabahu I and Parakramabahu I of Ceylon with South-east Asia may be understood better in the light of the background of commercial activities in the Indian Ocean. The desire of the Pagan dynasty of Burma to weaken the Cola influence on commerce in the Malay Peninsula resulted in friendship between Vijayabahu I of Ceylon and Anawrahta of Burma. The maritime trade, on the other hand, was the main cause of Parakramabahu's invasion of Burma